Chapter 3: Outed
2007
For some reason she never told the rest of team she was friends with David Rossi. She didn't mean to hide it, it just never came up and it's obvious it's slipped Hotch's mind when he'd introduces them.
"SSA David Rossi, this is SSA Emily Prentiss"
"Sir." She smirked as she held out her hand, that she can use the title without having a meltdown still baffles him. Grabbing her hand he pulled her into a hug.
"Hey kiddo… it's been too long.
"Yeah… a whole three days!" she laughs.
When he lets her go, there's confusion on the rest of the teams faces, except for Hotch who is staring at them in realisation. In the beginning he'd tried not dwell on Emily's ordeal... in the first few weeks he'd made a concerted effort to ignore the little voice in the back of his head shouting 'she's a victim get her out of here' and sometime between dead prostitutes in DC and teen boys in Chicago it had all become secondary to the work she was doing and the way she was finding her place within the team.
"I met Elizabeth when you were what? 16?" They'd never needed a cover story for how they knew each other... Dave figured a whitewashed version on the truth was best.
"Yeah but it was another couple of years before we managed to cross paths." the team picks up on the undercurrent of their words and interactions but shrug it off as them being long time friends and nothing more.
Working with Dave was amazing and frustrating… she'd always known he liked things just so but seeing him work took it to a whole new level.
Dave watched her like a hawk while they were in Great Falls. She'd been doing this long enough to have a pretty solid coping mechanism, while Dave slipped back into the professional aspect easily he struggled to separate Agent Prentiss from Emily the traumatised young woman.
He heard how she got the wife talking with that innate kindness and empathy that Knight couldn't strip away. Finding the roses, understanding the significance of the different heights in a way the rest of the team couldn't comprehend.
Standing in the bedroom… he nearly flashed back to that basement… for a moment he would swear someone was kneeling at his feet.
Comforting Jennifer Hillbridge and holding a steady hand to her blood soaked neck.
Dave wonders if the others will ever know what drove her here. Why she doesn't flinch when looking into the abyss. Will Emily ever tell them that she lived there for years and clawed her way out... inch by bitter inch.
They're on their way to Fredricksburg when his phone beeps with in incoming text message.
'Should I be grateful that Knight didn't leave any physical scars?'
It takes him a long time to formulate a reply.
'Never be grateful for the way you suffered'
Talking to Karen Foley is her worst nightmare, the son she's struggled to raise alone and the reality that he might be his fathers son after all. She hates having to push her, rip open the wound that like hers never truly healed.
She calls Dashiell that night, asks about his day. Fall's asleep to the sound of her boy's laughing voice.
Mary Wilkinson's complete and utter conviction when she admitted to killing her husband is something she understands as well.
She calls Anita as soon as she gets home, and gets in for an emergency session.
The following Saturday she gets in her car and drives back down to Fredricksburg and knocks on Karen Foley's door. The anger and bitterness on the older woman's face doesn't shake her resolve.
She holds up a photo of Dashiell for Karen to see through the screen door.
"When I was 16 a man named Damian Knight grabbed me off the street. He held me captive for a little under 4 years, my son and my oldest daughter were born in his basement, my younger daughter born 6 months after I was rescued. I am terrified that one day I'm going to be faced with the possibility that no matter how hard I tried Dashiell is his fathers son."
Karen's breathing speeds up and she opens the screen door letting Emily into her house.
The utter relief... finally finding someone who understands.
May 1992
Elizabeth sat in the back of the courtroom with Dara Summers' parents. In the row in front of them sat the parents of all but two of the girls buried in Knights backyard.
They still hadn't been able to identify those last two girls… Elizabeth had paid for the burials and visited regularly.
Their tombstones simply said 'A beloved daughter'
They were about to start opening arguments and much to Elizabeth's relief the prosecutor had convinced the judge to allow Emily anonymity when testifying. The basic argument being Emily's right to privacy out weighed the public's right to know. They all knew the real reason the judge granted their request was the children. If Emily couldn't be identified then neither could her children allowing them to grow up without the stigma of being the child of a serial killer.
The prosecutor had scheduled Emily to testify last solely for the impact it would have on the jury. They'd spent day's refining her answers and preparing her for the defenses questions. They'd even brought in a former defense attorney to ask her every brutal question he could, twist her story and words around to get her off balance and unable to respond properly.
"13 teenage girls" he pauses to let the number sink in "11 dead... 1 held captive and locked away from the world for nearly four years and 1 who escaped thanks to good men who stopped the attempted abduction. Smart, sensible, hard working girls who were snatched off the street before they had a chance to reach their full potential. You are going to hear some pretty disturbing things, I'll be honest with you, I cried when I read what Damian Knight did to these girls… the way he tortured and brutalised them is downright inhumane. We have proof... we have his own words... we have their bodies buried in his backyard and we have a survivor who can testify to the fact that the journals weren't just a fantasy they're an accounting of what he did..."
A plea deal was on the table. All of the parents had been consulted and had agreed.
Plead guilty, help them identify the final two girls for life in prison, no chance of parole… no death penalty. Knight had until Emily took the stand to accept it.
The days that follow are filled with testimony from Dave, the police who searched the house, the coroner who identified the bodies, the cop who arrested Knight, the businessman who witnessed the abduction attempt in Wilmington.
Dara Summer's testimony was short, the defense didn't even question her.
Anita and Dave had both cleared their schedules for the day's Emily would be on the stand while Julie stayed with the children.
Like when Dave took her statement the prosecutor asked open questions and let Emily tell her story.
"Can you tell us what happened the evening of February 2nd 1987?"
Those first months of mind games, using light and heat to condition her to obey.
The punishment for saying no.
Striping her of all dignity and modesty, taking her clothes.
Realising she was pregnant.
Giving birth alone, having to learn everything by trial and error and only having her instincts to guide her. He reads excepts from the journal entitled 'Alla' and has her confirm that yes he did all of that to her. Knight pushed her to the point where she craved his company, making her so terrified of being left in the cold and dark she was willing to do anything he ordered her to.
When she gets off the stand, they've covered the first two years... she's exhausted, mentally and emotionally wrung out. When they get home she chokes down the grilled cheese Julie puts in front of her and crawls into bed.
The next day is the final two years of her imprisonment, it's a Friday and the judge dismisses for the weekend when the prosecution finishes with Emily's testimony. On Monday it will be the defenses turn... all of them are dreading it.
Emily spends 15 minutes talking with Anita, the psychiatrist making sure she'll be ok over the weekend before they sneak out a side entrance where Julie is waiting with the kids and Emily's jeep. Seeing bags packed for a weekend away Emily looks at her mother askew.
"I thought we could use an escape" Elizabeth grins.
They head south of the city and by the time they're going through Fredricksburg only Elizabeth is awake. They stop for dinner outside Richmond and just after 9pm they're pulling into a beach house a colleague of Elizabeth's owns in Kitty Hawk on the North Carolina coast. The sound of the waves and clean sea air lull them all back to sleep quickly.
Elizabeth is the last to wake the next morning just as the sun is rising. The house is empty and there's a note by the bubbling coffee maker.
'Watching the sun rise - E, D, C, S'
She pours two cups of coffee, grabs her camera and heads out to the beach hoping they haven't wandered too far. Sitting on a sand dune facing away from her Emily is silhouetted by the sun, Dashiell and Cora on either side, Skylar standing between Emily's legs pointing off in the distance.
It's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
2008
It only takes two bodies for Garcia to make the connection and bring it to the teams attention.
A 16 year old had gone missing from Wilmington on her way home from school. 4 weeks later in the middle of the night her body was dumped, left on the front lawn of the house Missy Carlisle grew up in in Baltimore.
3 days after that a girl goes missing from Baltimore, Garcia see's the police report when her body is dumped at Tara Ambrose' house.
She presents the case to the team and doesn't miss Emily going paler than normal. She assumes it's because at first glance she's showing pictures of 16 year old Skylar Prentiss.
"Here's the uber creepy part…" Garcia continues her body shuddering "house number one in Baltimore was the childhood home of Missy Carlisle, house number 2 was the childhood home of Tara Ambrose" she pulled up the final school portraits of them "Missy went missing in 1982, Tara in 1983, they were victims 1 and 2 of…"
"Damian Lucas Knight" Rossi finished his voice rough as he swallows heavily not daring to look at Emily.
"Yeah, I pulled the case file…"
She briefs the team on the original abductions and murders, they throw out ideas before splitting up, Hotch keeps Emily back in the BAU to work victimology.
"You understand why you can't be in the field on this one?" he asks quietly once everyone else has left the conference room.
"Hotch…" she's still pale, her hands are shaking and there's are darkness in her eyes he's never seen before "I suspected Gideon told you…" her eyes drifted up to the pictures on the board and she absently makes a note to one day thank him for his discretion "I had a flashback when Missy and Tara's photo's appeared… you might need to take me off the case all together."
"Gideon gave me your victim statement, he said you'd either be an unmitigated disaster or your perspective and experience would be irreplaceably unique. You'd already proved him wrong and he wasn't going to underestimate you again. I'm not going to underestimate you now, if you need to step back I'll support you and if you need to stay and see this through I'll support you."
"I need to make a phone call…"
An hour later she stuck her head in his office "I'll stay and do victimology for today but I won't be in again until the team is no longer working this case." Anita had told her to get off the case... if she'd already had one flashback more would follow and the last thing she needed was to have a meltdown forcing Hotch to intervene and remove her. She can trust her team with saving these girls... she has to trust them because right now she can't trust herself.
He calls Dave that evening unsure of what to tell the rest of the team when Emily isn't there the next day.
Eventually they decide to tell them nothing. Emily's taking some leave and will be back soon. Neither voice it but it's only a matter of time before someone puts it all together or Emily gives them permission to tell the team.
1992
The weekend away had been good for Emily, Saturday had been warm and sunny. The smiles and laughs as they splashed in the ocean together was what they all needed. Elizabeth holding tight to Skylar dipping her tiny feet into the water as Emily chases Dashiell and Cora in and out of the waves. All three of them laughing and screaming in happiness.
Emily is well rested and centered when she faced the defenses cross examination.
The expected a brutal cross examination didn't come.
He didn't try to paint Emily as unstable, he didn't try to twist her words around or use her submission against her.
Years later Emily would find out he'd pushed Knight to take the deal. The evidence against him was too strong and Emily's testimony couldn't be refuted as the journals supported her version of events. He would never be able to be accused of not giving Knight a vigorous defense, there was simply nothing for him to work with.
There was no alternate explanation to be found, but Knights narcissism wouldn't let him take the deal. He honestly believed his Alla wouldn't take the stand against him. In his eyes she still belonged to him, he owned her body and soul and she would never turn on him. She would never be able to look him in the eye and tell her story.
He was wrong. In rebuilding her life Emily was developing a strength and sense of self that was solid and unshakable.
The jury came back with a guilty verdict, in early August she was back in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing. Her victim impact statement in her clammy shaking hand.
Ellen Summers stood and spoke on behalf of Dara. It was short, but heartfelt.
Tony Carlisle spoke on behalf of the rest of the parents.
"10 years ago I kissed my daughter Missy goodbye as I left for work. She was excited about debate that afternoon, she'd spent hours working on her arguments around the pro's of a universal health care system. Apparently she won… but she never got to tell us because she never made it home. Missy wanted to go to Berkley and then go into social work. She was a protector, always standing up for those weaker than her. She once got sent to the principals office for punching a boy who slapped the backside of a freshman girl. I listen to the stories about the other girls and I think… these are the types of girls my Missy would be friends with. Strong, smart, loving girls who were going to change someones world. They never got that chance…"
Finally it was Emily's turn…
"None of the doors in our house close or lock" she starts "There are days the mere thought of putting clothes on sends me into a panic attack, I don't leave the house after dark, I always leave a light on and I've never been on a real date, I'm 21 years old and I've given birth to 3 beautiful children who, a part of me wishes didn't have to exist. I love my kids with everything I have but the only reason they exist is I was captured, I was held against my will and forced into sexual slavery. I was stolen from my life and put into a role I didn't want, I was tied down, I was raped, I was deprived of clothes, at times I was deprived of heat and light." she took a deep and shuddering breath.
"I should be starting my senior year at college, I was trying to get into Yale. I never got to go to Prom, take my SAT's, sign my friends senior year books, live in the dorms… go to a frat party. I'm finding a new normal, learning to exist with the hand I've been dealt but every day is a struggle. How to I explain to my children where they came from, who fathered them? How do I build a normal healthy relationship with a man? How do I go to college or hold down a job when I'm terrified of every male I meet? The only reason I am standing here today is because on the bad day's my mother carries me, Agent Rossi pushes me forward when I'm too scared to take a step on my own, Dr Trewlynn spends hours finding and working through the minefield that my head is and the families sitting behind me cheer me on. They want to see me succeed because they'll never see their own daughters do it… I want to succeed for myself and my children. 4 months ago I completed my GED and in two weeks time I start my freshman year at Georgetown. I'm learning to live again. Damien Lucas Knight stole things from me that I will never be able to get back. He tried to destroy me… he failed. He did destroy Missy Carlisle, Tara Ambrose, Melanie Spears, Laura Schubert, Marcie Turner, Carolyn Beddington, Tiffany Matheson, Allison Smith, Sophie Granger, Ellie Trent, Maria Delazio and two girls who we can't give true justice to because we don't know their names. These girls lives are might have beens. They will never get the chance I have… to live… in the words of Kurt Vonnegut 'Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."' Thank you."
As she fell into the seat strong arms wrapped around her from behind and Conchetta Delazio whispered in her ear "My Maria would love you…"
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
2008
There was a message on her machine when she got home. Ted Ambrose's panicked voice echoed through.
"Emily, I don't know what's going on but this morning I went to get the paper…"
She didn't call him back but sent a text telling him she knew and she knew the team working on it.
"Prentiss won't be joining us today… let's start." the team looks at each other confused, Emily would never duck out on a case like this.
"Both girls necks were snapped, even if they died by some other means Knight still snapped every one of his dead victims necks, there's evidence of repeated sexual assault but no serious torture" Morgan started
"Sex can be it's own form of torture" Rossi commented absently, eyes firmly on his notebook as he jotted down thoughts as they came to him.
"I think we need to bring in Knight's two surviving victims" he ignored the older man.
"Their identities are protected, the judge ordered their names be removed from court documents and all official FBI files are redacted" Rossi informed him.
"You worked the original case" Reid jumped in "surely you'd have their names somewhere." something had been bugging him about the file he read, if Morgan could convince Rossi to bring the women in maybe he'd be able to work it out.
"I do, I know where they are now and no I won't ask them to come in or tell you who they are."
"Rossi, they might know something…"
"They don't."
"How do you know? It's been 16 years, there might be details they didn't remember at the time that could help us now." Morgan wasn't going to let this go.
"There isn't" he sat back completely unflappable as the rest of the team watched the back and forth. "The victim from Wilmington was with him for two minutes. He was arrested while pulling her into his van. I spent 10 months working with the 87 victim, read her statement and the journals. She has nothing to add to this and bringing her in… she's worked damn hard to get past it, to get where she is today. I won't let anyone dredge this up."
Morgan paused... he didn't really want to talk to the Wilmington victim... it was the other he wanted to speak to but he knew Rossi wasn't going to budge and decided to back off for now. He had another way.
He was headed off to check out Knights old house in Bethesda and called Garcia from the car. It took some work and guilt tripping but she finally agreed to hack the court transcripts.
Garcia's breath quickened and tears sprang to her eyes when she read the witness list. She didn't know what to do… this was too big for her to even comprehend. It was too much, pushing herself back from her desk Garcia stood and rushed out of her lair as fast as she could.
She turned the corner and ran straight into the man she was looking for. Rossi grabbed her arms to steady her and immediately noticed how distressed she was.
"Morgan got you to break into the sealed files?" he asked.
"I'm sorry… he said you were too close… he wants to check out the son…" she choked on the word son. She'd met Dashiell the previous Christmas... and Cora and Skylar they were all good kids, so much like their mother.
"Leave it with me… go back to the other searches."
Rossi hugged her and then started to walk away.
"Sir?" he turned back "how do I look at her now… knowing what happened?"
"How did you look at her yesterday?" he asks.
"Like she was the kick-ass crime fighting indestructible mommy of the year…"
"She's still all of those things… maybe a little bit more kick-ass and indestructible." Garcia nodded through the tears and wrung her hands as she watched him walk away.
Emily Prentiss wasn't a victim...
He followed Morgan to the house in Bethesda. It had changed hands a few times and was currently sitting empty while a developer got permission to knock it down and put up townhouses. He was only 20 minutes behind Morgan who was meeting the developer who agreed to let him in.
Walking down the basement stairs Rossi couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. 11 girls died in this room.
"The St Andrew's cross was against that wall, the stocks in the middle of the room." he pointed as Morgan spun around "and through that door is the room she was kept in. He could heat it to 120 and cool it to 38 degrees. The glass opaque, she could see out but no one could see in. The block out blinds controlled from a switch out here, when they were closed and when the lights were off you couldn't even see the hand in front of your face."
"Garcia told you?" he rolled his eyes, he should have known.
"She came to find me when she saw the court transcripts. You want to look at the son?" he leaned back against the cinder block wall "I get why, I mean look at Charlie Wilkinson. It's a valid line of questioning and if you'd asked me I would have handed over the file I've kept on him since the day I met him."
Morgan's eyes shot up in surprise but he automatically assumed Rossi was too close to watch the boy objectively.
"Did you really think I hadn't already considered it? Years ago we started observing him, with his sisters, at little league games. I watched that boy closely, went to his birthday parties, I chaperoned his school dances and watched how he interacted with girls and classmates. When his sister turned 16 I spent night after night sitting outside his bedroom with his terrified mother watching, hoping and praying that he wasn't his fathers son. Do you or don't you trust me to spot the signs of a budding psychopath? What about Katie Cole, she watched from a distance verified everything I was seeing, kept me in check. Do you trust Katie's judgement?"
"Why are you so protective of her man?" Morgan really didn't understand why he'd go to such lengths.
Rossi studies him for a moment "I spent three and a half years looking for her. Then one day I get a call from Wilmington they'd arrested Knight trying to grab a girl that met my victim type, I come down these stairs to a door, it's sound proofed and locked from the outside. I go through the door and see a room built for a serious B/D relationship, if that's the way you swing no problem but this place just felt wrong… it still does. I see another door, locked from the outside and some serious soundproofing on it. When I open the door at first I think I'm hallucinating when I hear babies crying and then I see her. Naked, bruised, sick, terrified, before I have a chance to say anything she throws herself at my feet... kneeling the way he had conditioned her to. I watched her struggle and fight for years. Her mother needed to get legal guardianship over all three of them because she couldn't even decide to put clothes on. She needed to be told and now… she's magnificent. I sat with her as she opened her acceptance to Georgetown, I went to her graduation, I went to her sons and I'm going to her daughters high school graduation… I wrote the recommendation that got her into the FBI academy."
"She's an agent…" Morgan couldn't keep the shock off his face.
"one of the absolute best, bringing this up now… identifying her risks everything she's spent the last 16 years working for. That's what I'm protecting, the good life she's built."
The girls were not going to be happy but she needed to get them all out of the city. The shit was going to fly and Emily didn't want her kids anywhere near it.
Going up to the bedrooms she quickly packed enough clothes to last them all a week, shoved a whole bunch of food from the fridge and cupboard into the cooler, packed it all into the car and drove to the girls school.
"Family emergency" she lied to the administration as she signed Cora and Skylar out "Hopefully they'll be back next week sometime. I'll call and confirm"
They were heading south out of the city when Skylar finally spoke from the backseat.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"I've got a couple of days off and thought it'd be nice to get out of the city... head down to Kitty Hawk" Emily and Elizabeth had gone halves on a beach house down the road from where they stayed in 1992.
Neither girl missed the blood lining her left thumb as she picked at the nail.
Pulling out their phones they made sure they were on silent, Cora texting Dave and Skylar Dashiell.
'Why is Mom off work? She's taking us down to Kitty Hawk.'
'Mom just pulled us out of school and we're going down to the beach house.'
Dashiell responded straight away
'I know, I'm flying down after my last class today. No idea why'
The second Dave got Cora's text message he knew what Emily was doing. She'd called him the night before and they both knew they wouldn't be able to keep her connection to Damian Knight from the team for very long, Garcia knew, it was only a matter of time before she slipped and gave Morgan enough information and it wouldn't surprise him if Reid had already put some of the pieces together. He'd seen the look of confusion when the genius connected the kids birthdays.
Emily was hiding the kids from the teams initial reactions.
'Bad case, she's fine' he sent back.
Based on the original timeline and the coroners reports from 1990 the third girl Knight took was one they had never identified. They had no idea where the next victim would be taken from or where the body would be dumped. If their UnSub continued with the pattern they had four weeks before he killed her, he suspected their guy was going to devolve pretty quickly.
He sat for two hours going over everything they had from the original murders and the new ones and there were several stark differences.
The only two victims Knight had kept alive for less than 3 months were Ellie Trent and Maria Delazzio. The girls he'd grabbed on the day's Dashiell and Cora were born. He'd made it clear in their journals they weren't needed once Emily healed from giving birth so he'd killed them after 6 weeks. The coroner estimated the other girls were alive for anywhere from 3 to 10 months.
Knight kept their bodies, they were his trophies. He could sit on his back porch and see where they were buried. Watch the flowers grow from their graves. This guy obviously had other trophies.
Knight took his time, let the girls get comfortable used psychological games to wear them down.
He also had an ideal in mind, the perfect partner... when he couldn't find a willing woman he turned to the teens in an attempt to create her. When asked why 16 year olds the monster had smiled and said "16 is perfect. Their bodies fully developed, physically they're women but their minds are malleable. Their frontal lobe not quite finished developing, they're still learning to define between good, bad and no choices, still learning to suppress socially unacceptable responses. Given enough time and the right motivation, the only choices they made were to obey and there was no social construct left for them to adhere to".
Knight never worked out why Emily submitted so quickly but he and Elizabeth did. Emily was stubborn and strong willed even as a child, but she was also empathetic to the point of being easily used by others. Trusting... no matter how many times people betrayed her she never saw it coming. Always willing to give someone a second chance and the benefit of the doubt.
Time and again her father didn't show up when promised and she was surprised every single time, in the few months before she went missing she was just starting to realise he was never going to change. As much as Elizabeth loved her daughter, Emily's childhood had been anything but stable, dragged from posting to posting, too many nights sleeping the office couch while Elizabeth worked and as she got older not enough supervision and resentment at the lifestyle was festering.
Knight had unknowingly exploited the deep set desire for consistency.
She trusted in what she had been taught as a child, don't try to bargain or barter your way out, don't threaten or fight. Hold tight, do what you need to do to stay alive and wait for rescue.
Submitting to Knight was not a conscious choice, she never once thought 'if I just do what he tells me I'm not going to die'. It was the sub-conscious part trusting in that lesson drilled into her from five years old.
Do what you need to do to stay alive and wait for rescue.
It took longer than ever anticipated but she survived and she'd been rescued.
His phone buzzed again 'Show the team the final interview, make sure they know the kids have no idea what happened.'
He sighed and went into Hotch's office, showed him the message and went to get the footage of Emily's interview. They'd need to see this for themselves.
Once they were all gathered he took a deep breath and centered himself for what he knew was going to be a very emotionally charged few hours.
"I know you're all a little confused by why I've been so protective of the woman who survived Knight. There are many reasons but the two main ones are this... the children don't know. She is planning on informing each of them once they're 21. We've been trying to protect them from accidentally finding out. The second is for the last 16 years she has battled to get where she is today, with 3 young children and a lot of damage to repair she got her GED, went to college, she was accepted into the FBI Academy and is currently an agent. If this gets out beyond this room she could loose everything she has worked for, she is a respected and valued agent. This will change the way people look at her and treat her." he stared down the team one at a time hoping they understood. JJ, Reid and Morgan quickly caught on to the fact that they already knew her.
"A little over a year ago I was informed of her background and identity" Hotch added glaring at the table in general "At no point in the last two days did I disagree with Dave's decision to keep this from you. I left the decision up to Knights survivor and Dave. She has given permission for you to be read in. Let me be clear, currently there is one Bureau agent outside this room that knows her identity and that is Katie Cole. Any discussion surrounding what you find out is to be done behind closed doors. If this leaks the person responsible will be out of the BAU and without a recommendation from me by the end of the day." Even Dave was surprised by the severity of Hotch's threat.
"What I am going to show you is the final interview we conducted. It took us 10 months of careful questioning to get her full victim statement. In the room is the survivor know as 87, myself and her psychiatrist. She'd hit a block in therapy and there was one particular event Knight wrote about that she had not admitted to. It was stalling her recovery and stopping the prosecutor from filing the final charges as we needed her verification that it happened. Her Doctor and I planned this out together with her mothers input. This was filmed October 15 1991... if at anytime you need to leave then leave... in all my years this is quite possibly the hardest victim interview I've ever conducted." Dave didn't miss the apprehensive looks passing between the rest of the team.
He hit play and up on the screen the back of Dave's head appeared in the bottom left hand corner.
Centered on the screen 21 year old Emily Prentiss sat nervously chewing an already ragged and bleeding nail, behind her Cora and Dashiell sat playing on the floor, 4 month old Skylar fast asleep in her stroller.
"Oh god no..." JJ was the first to recognise the face on the screen.
While Garcia had been somewhat prepared, seeing the stark truth up on the screen brought a sob bubbling up from her chest as a shocked gasp escaped from Morgan. Spencer sat there silent and confused struggling to comprehend the meaning of what he was seeing.
He let the full hour long video play... pushing Emily through more and more unpleasant events that occurred during her time with Knight... Katie Cole slowly taking the children from the room... Emily's visceral reaction to Cora being taken... her begging them not to make her remember... the damn breaking as she finally told them what Knight had threatened to do... the final 15 minutes of hysteria, Emily screaming 'don't kill her...' over and over again as she slammed her head against the wall... the tape ending abruptly with Emily being sedated by Dr Trewlynn.
"No other copy of this exists and this is the first time it's been viewed since the transcription was taken" Dave's voice was husky "After her statement was in writing I locked the tapes away... I couldn't even bring myself to watch them... that was the day Katie requested a transfer to CETaF."
"Please... please tell me that Prentiss has a doppelgänger out there..." Morgan is the first to speak his voice rough and devastated.
1992
It was a beautiful late October day as Emily sat in the quad studying with a group of other freshman. Completely unplanned Dara Summers was starting her freshman year as well and they had a number of classes together.
It made things better for the both of them. Emily was never going to get to experience normal college life but her friendship with Dara made it easier to connect with other students.
They were just finishing up for the afternoon when two little voices washed over them.
"Mommy... Mommy"
Before Emily could turn around Dashiell and Cora landed on her back wrapping their arms around her. All three of them giggling.
It had taken a lot of time and hard work but she had eventually gotten to a healthier place, a place where she could comfortably leave the children to go to class. It had started the year before during her twice a week therapy appointments. Leaving Skylar and Dashiell outside with her mother or Julie was ok but Cora was a different story she panicked every time her eldest daughter was out of her sight. They started slow, the last 15 minutes of each session Cora was taken outside, then it was 30 minutes, then the whole session.
In January of that year Emily was leaving all three children at the house. Soon after that she would start to leave earlier and get a coffee or do some shopping.
In May she let her Mother take the older two over night, three weeks after Skylar's first birthday she and her mother left all three with Julie while they went to an overnight spa.
It was slow, but steady improvement... finding a new normal.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
2008
Hotch ignores Morgan's plea and addresses the room in the tone he normally reserves for recalcitrant local law enforcement.
"I'd like to remind you all of a few pertinent facts. After this interview Emily Prentiss attained her GED, sat in the witness box at Knights trial for 3 days, she was accepted into Georgetown and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She was accepted into the FBI Academy and graduated first in her class. For the last 18 months she has been an integral member of this team who has earned our respect and friendship. I expect you follow her example from after Carl Buford, after Tobias Hankle and after Jason Clark Battle, you will treat her as she deserves... as a valued member of this unit who's past is secondary to the skills as a profiler she brings to our team."
"Gideon knew didn't he?" Reid for all his brain power was struggling to connect the girl on the tape to the woman he knew.
"Yes he did. When she first transferred to the unit he's the one who told me." Hotch confirmed.
"Jason did a very good job at pissing off Elizabeth Prentiss" Rossi chuckled "He was observing... watching for behavioral patterns in case I missed them. He didn't think she could recover and lead a normal life… boy was he wrong"
1994
She'd fallen in love with the house in Baileys Crossroads the moment she drove past it. Actually it was more of a cottage, and it was almost perfect. Small enough to manageable by herself, big enough for the four of them to be comfortable.
White weatherboards, dark gabled roof, wooden post fence at the front. The kitchen bright, bedrooms comfortable and living area just the right size for them. A huge backyard for her endlessly energetic kids to run around in…
She hadn't told anyone where she was taking the kids that Saturday, Skylar sat on her hip shyly taking it all in with wide eyes while Dashiell slapped at her thigh pointing at something in the snow covered backyard.
"What is it?" she leaned down to ask the almost 6 year old.
"That tree mommy…" he was vibrating with excitement staring at the old oak "Uncle Dave could build us a tree house…"
"Uncle Dave would pay someone to build you a tree house." She laughed, he was right though it was a perfect tree for a little boy to climb. In her minds eye she could see Cora and Dashiell chasing each other up and down, round and round… laughing, playing, Skylar trying and failing to keep up. Surely this was a dream... was she still trapped in that basement hallucinating?
"What's the asking price?" she looked at the realtor. It would take a chunk of cash out of her trust but... it was worth it and it was time.
'Mommy has ants in her pants…' Cora would have chanted if she'd seen Emily fidgeting in her seat. She was down to one session a week with Dr Trewlynn and most of the time they were relaxed catch ups instead of the heavy and emotionally draining sessions that had defined the first few years as her patient. A part of her felt she was nearly ready to stop all together.
"How was your week?" the doctor grinned knowing something was different, the excitement rolling off Emily in waves was contagious.
"I bought a house on Saturday!" That was the moment Anita Trewlynn knew beyond any doubt Emily was ok.
Elizabeth had smiled, asked to see the house and mused about taking on short term assignments again.
Dave asked what Champagne was appropriate for smashing over the side of the house. "That's for a boat you idiot" Emily's laugh echoed over the phone.
3 years, 5 months and 18 days after Dave found her locked in a basement in Bethesda Emily, Dashiell, Cora and Skylar moved into their own home.
1995
"Hey Dave…" Emily looked over her glass of wine, Dave had come over to her house and was cooking to celebrate Emily having handed in her final assessment for her psych major. The food had been eaten, the kids put to bed and now they were chatting about everything and nothing.
"Hey Em!" the friendship between the two was relaxed and easy. He'd happily filled the role of favoured uncle for them.
"If I wanted to apply to the Bureau would you give me a reference?" his grin as he accidentally knocked the wine out her hand while pulling her into a hug was all the answer she needed.
2008
Morgan punched a wall... Reid babbled about everything and nothing his brain going to fast for his heart to keep up... Garcia cried and JJ got that mulish resolute look that scares the press and told them all to pull themselves together. They had a case to solve.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?